Tag: coze

Parfumerie Generale; Aomassai

April 2, 2012

Notes: caramel, toasted hazelnuts, licorice, bitter orange, spices, wenge wood, vetiver, balsam wood, incense, dried grasses, resins

This write-up is a bit of  a continuation of my previous Parfumerie Generale post but, unlike Coze, Aomassai could never be mistaken for anything other than a gourmand. In fact, Aomassai is the most unabashedly foodie fragrance I’ve yet come across. The opening note is  sweet, sweet caramel. The sweetness isn’t sticky or sickly, but pure sugar. It isn’t heavy, syrupy, or overbearing. Aomassai settles in with toasty cinnamon-y notes, making me dream of fluffy french toast. This definitely isn’t a fragrance to wear on an empty stomach.

I wanted to do this write-up after Coze because there’s an undercurrent of that same bone-dry woodiness here. It’s as though Pierre Guillaume wanted to use Coze as a base and see what new directions he could take it in. The grassy, woody notes weave in and out of the fragrance, adding some depth and intrigue without ever completely taking over. This isn’t a retread of Coze, but a re-imagining.

Aomassai is deliriously sugary, but with a dry edge.  You might think the sweetness means this is a feminine scent, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I’d love to smell this on a man. This isn’t the loudest, strongest perfume out there (indeed, it’s only an EdT), but it’s quite distinctive. This is a must-try if you’re into gourmands. And even if not, even if you’re just in the mood to smell like the most intriguing dessert ever imagined, go ahead and give Aomassai a shot.

Pafumerie Generale; Aomassai: $105 for 50 ml. Samples & full bottles available from Luckyscent.

{Image Source}

Parfumerie Generale; Coze

March 28, 2012

Notes: canapa sativa seed oil, pepper, pimento, coffee, ebony wood, chocolate, bourbon vanilla pods

I’ve spent this entire winter living in dry, woody, smokey fragrances, and Coze is one of the samples I kept returning to again and again. Parfumerie Generale’s Coze is unapologetic about what it is: a dry, dark, carnal scent. The opening is actually a bit harsh on me. It’s like a strong cup of coffee infused with dry dark wood, and I can practically see the smoke swirling in a coffee cup. My first impression was: interesting, but do I want to wear this?

If you’ve looked at the notes you can see there are several food notes in this composition. In addition to coffee, there’s chocolate and some boozy vanilla, but Coze isn’t a foodie fragrance. There is a sweetness here, but it’s not  yummy and sugary. It’s a rather heavy, dark sweetness. A sweetness that feels somehow dangerous. It’s disarming. It’s unexpected, and you wonder if it’s really supposed to be there.

Coze remains dry throughout, but it blooms into a relative richness after a few hours of wear. That initial coffee note gives way to something salty, dry, and animalic. This is the truly dirty, carnal aspect to Coze. There’s a heat to it, but it is not warm and cozy. There’s something about the dryness that keeps Coze at arm’s length. It’s intimate, but, at the same time, there’s something about this fragrance that remains unknowable, unreachable, fleeting, until it finally fades away.

Pierre Guillaume named his fragrance line Parfumerie Generale as a play on his initials, and he’s made these foodie fragrances with a twist into a specialty. Coze is a fragrance that defies classification. It has these gourmand notes but is not something you’d want to eat. It’s dry, but sumptuous. It’s reminiscent of sex, but is not exactly sexy. It has masculine overtones, but I enjoy wearing this and I think it’s an amazing fragrance for a woman.

I wouldn’t wear Coze everyday. In fact, I’m not sure exactly what occasion is appropriate for this perfume. But I’ve found that my original question of do I want to wear this? is almost irrelevant here. Coze is intoxicating. I would recommend getting a sample and letting it speak to you.

Parfumerie Generale, Coze: $120 for 50 ml. Samples and full bottles available from Luckyscent.

And if we’re talking about the Hot Perfumeur Sweepstakes, Pierre Guillaume is definitely in the running:

{Image Source}